Christ Is Our Advocate

2 ^(A)My little children, I am ^(B)writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, ^(C)we have an ^[a](D)Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ² and He Himself is ^(E)the ^[b]propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also ^(F)for those of the whole world.

^3 (G)By this we know that we have come to ^(H)know Him, if we ^(I)keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, “^(J)I have come to ^(K)know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a ^(L)liar, and ^(M)the truth is not in him; ⁵ but whoever ^(N)keeps His word, in him the ^(O)love of God has truly been perfected. ^(P)By this we know that we are in Him: ⁶ the one who says he ^(Q)abides in Him ^(R)ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

^7 (S)Beloved, I am ^(T)not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had ^(U)from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. ^8 [c]On the other hand, I am writing ^(V)a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because ^(W)the darkness is passing away and ^(X)the true Light is already shining. ⁹ The one who says he is in the Light and yet ^(Y)hates his ^(Z)brother is in the darkness until now. ^10 (AA)The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. ¹¹ But the one who ^(AB)hates his brother is in the darkness and ^(AC)walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has ^(AD)blinded his eyes.

¹² I am writing to you, ^(AE)little children, because ^(AF)your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. ¹³ I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him ^(AG)who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because ^(AH)you have overcome ^(AI)the evil one. I have written to you, children, because ^(AJ)you know the Father. ¹⁴ I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him ^(AK)who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are ^(AL)strong, and the ^(AM)word of God abides in you, and ^(AN)you have overcome the evil one.

Do Not Love the World

¹⁵ Do not love ^(AO)the world nor the things in the world. ^(AP)If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, ^(AQ)the lust of the flesh and ^(AR)the lust of the eyes and ^(AS)the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. ^17 (AT)The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who ^(AU)does the will of God lives forever.

¹⁸ Children, ^(AV)it is the last hour; and just as you heard that ^(AW)antichrist is coming, ^(AX)even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. ^19 (AY)They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, ^(AZ)so that ^[d]it would be shown that they all are not of us. ^20 [e]But you have an ^(BA)anointing from ^(BB)the Holy One, and ^(BC)you all know. ²¹ I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but ^(BD)because you do know it, and ^[f]because no lie is ^(BE)of the truth. ²² Who is the liar but ^(BF)the one who denies that Jesus is the ^[g]Christ? This is ^(BG)the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. ^23 (BH)Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴ As for you, let that abide in you which you heard ^(BI)from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also ^(BJ)will abide in the Son and in the Father.

The Promise Is Eternal Life

^25 (BK)This is the promise which He Himself ^[h]made to us: eternal life.

²⁶ These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to ^(BL)deceive you. ²⁷ As for you, the ^(BM)anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing ^(BN)teaches you about all things, and is ^(BO)true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, ^[i]you abide in Him.

²⁸ Now, ^(BP)little children, abide in Him, so that when He ^(BQ)appears, we may have ^(BR)confidence and ^(BS)not ^[j]shrink away from Him in shame ^[k]at His ^(BT)coming. ²⁹ If you know that ^(BU)He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness ^(BV)is ^[l]born of Him.

Children of God Love One Another

3 See ^[m](BW)how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called ^(BX)children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because ^(BY)it did not know Him. ^2 (BZ)Beloved, now we are ^(CA)children of God, and ^(CB)it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He ^(CC)appears, we will be ^(CD)like Him, because we will ^(CE)see Him just as He is. ³ And everyone who has this ^(CF)hope fixed on Him ^(CG)purifies himself, just as He is pure.

⁴ Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and ^(CH)sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that He ^(CI)appeared in order to ^(CJ)take away sins; and ^(CK)in Him there is no sin. ⁶ No one who abides in Him ^(CL)sins; no one who sins has seen Him or ^[n](CM)knows Him. ^7 (CN)Little children, make sure no one ^(CO)deceives you; ^(CP)the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; ⁸ the one who practices sin is ^(CQ)of the devil; for the devil ^[o]has sinned from the beginning. ^(CR)The Son of God ^(CS)appeared for this purpose, ^(CT)to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ No one who is ^[p](CU)born of God ^(CV)practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is ^[q]born of God. ¹⁰ By this the ^(CW)children of God and the ^(CX)children of the devil are obvious: ^[r]anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who ^(CY)does not love his ^(CZ)brother.

^11 (DA)For this is the message ^(DB)which you have heard from the beginning, ^(DC)that we should love one another; ¹² not as ^(DD)Cain, who was of ^(DE)the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because ^(DF)his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

¹³ Do not be surprised, brethren, if ^(DG)the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have ^(DH)passed out of death into life, ^(DI)because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. ¹⁵ Everyone who ^(DJ)hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that ^(DK)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. ¹⁶ We know love by this, that ^(DL)He laid down His life for us; and ^(DM)we ought to lay down our lives for the ^(DN)brethren. ¹⁷ But ^(DO)whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and ^(DP)closes his ^[s]heart ^[t]against him, ^(DQ)how does the love of God abide in him? ^18 (DR)Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and ^(DS)truth. ¹⁹ We will know by this that we are ^(DT)of the truth, and will ^[u]assure our heart before Him ^20 [v]in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. ^21 (DU)Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have ^(DV)confidence ^[w]before God; ²² and ^(DW)whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we ^(DX)keep His commandments and do ^(DY)the things that are pleasing in His sight.

²³ This is His commandment, that we ^[x](DZ)believe in ^(EA)the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as ^(EB)He ^[y]commanded us. ²⁴ The one who ^(EC)keeps His commandments ^(ED)abides in Him, and He in him. ^(EE)We know by this that ^(EF)He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

A Psalm of Praise.